This weekend the Ford Fiesta Championship visits Modified Live at Brands Hatch for Rounds 7 and 8 . Brands Hatch is the first circuit of 2011 where I have visited before so hopefully will leave me a little more prepared! I really enjoy the challenges Brands Hatch Indy circuit presents, and had a good first vist there back in October last year so I am really looking forward to this one. Wish me luck!

What a mega weekend! Went to Donington for the first time on a track evening session on the monday prior to the event in what turned out to be the exact mix of conditions that I would experience come race day, a mix of rain and showers. Left Donington feeling very confident and abosutley loving the circuit.

On saturday free practice was a little dissapointing, although second fastest was a massive 6 tenths off David Grady, the car not handling as I would have liked. Qualifying was slightly better after some setup changes, 2nd again but still 4 tenths off.

Sunday morning we were all prepaing for a wet race with some very dark clouds looming, raining lightly, but not enough for wets. I had a reasonable initial getaway, but had some wheelspin in 2nd gear and had to take avoiding action at the first corner not to be taken off, dropped to 5th, but managed to get back up to 2nd on lap 2. With the level of rain constantly changing it was a lottery how much grip you would get at each corner each lap. Harry Cockhill managed to hold onto the lead until he made a mistake at the old hairpin on lap 8, where I grabbed 1st and maintained a healthy gap until the chequered flag, taking my first ever overall victory by 3.4 seconds.

Race 2 on Sunday afternoon was dry, David Grady got a good start from P2 to gain the lead on the run to the first corner, even with a safety car interval he could not be headed, to be within 4 tenths for all 8 racing laps of the 12 lap race was as close as I could get. It took until the 3rd round but finally got a result worth all the effort. Really looking forward to Brands Hatch now, the first circuit in the calender that I have raced at before!

Rounds 5 and 6 of the 2011 Dunlop Competition Car Insurance is at Donington park. Again it is a new circuit for me, but so far this season I have been able to pick tracks up very quickly. My brother is racing here aswell in the BRSCC FF1600 races so will be a busy weekend for the Cooper family!

Timetable for rounds 5 and 6 at Donington park on 14/15 May has been released:
http://www.fordracing.eu/documents/Timetable-Donington14_15May2011-Issue1.pdf

Second meeting of the year at Snetterton was a mix of highs and lows. Only had thursday afternoon to learn the circuit, which is definately not enough especially on a circuit as long and technical as the new 3 mile Snetterton 300 layout! Plagued by overheating issues during the hot afternoon I was extatic to be within half a second of the pace setter by end of play. A couple of days off at the circuit gave time to repair a faulty fan and prepare the car for the weekends races.

Free practice went very well, getting quicker and quicker with every lap as I learnt the circuit ending fastest overall, feeling confident for a strong qualifying. A wheel bearing and 4th gear synco failures at the start of qualifying was frustrating, causing me to miss the window to get the best from the new tyres, 4th as a result was dissapointing. The top 6 were covered by just over half a second, which on such a long lap shows the strength of the competition and the importance of a strong qualifying.
 
I had a fantastic start in race 1 to get up into 2nd place, but a small mistake at Oggies and the subsequent trip on the grass dropped me down to 7th. Fighting back to 5th and challanging for 4th when the race was reg flagged. Although the result was dissapointing the pace was there to win. Race 2 saw another good start, but I got boxed in at Montreal hairpin and dropped to 6th, managed to get back to 4th and on the back of 3rd before a safety car was brought out for another accident. Again showing strong pace, just not the results to show for it, hopefully at the next round at Donington Park the pace can be converted into a strong result.

Official results: http://www.tsl-timing.com/brscc/2011/111632.pdf

This bank holiday weekend is rounds 3 and 4 at Snetterton. Again it is a new circuit for me, hopefuly I can pick it up quickly. Car needed a little bit of TLC after some heavy contact from the first round at Silverstone, but is all back together now and raring to go. See you there!

Timetable for rounds 3 and 4 at Snetterton on 24/25th April has been released:

http://www.fordracing.eu/documents/TimetableSN24_25April2011-Issue2.pdf

First meeting of the year at Silverstone didnt quite go to plan. Started off very well learning the circuit fast and showing good pace on the Friday test, however the car developed an fault by the end of the day where it kept cutting out. Very pleased with 2nd fastest in the Saturday free practice session, but frustratingly the cutting out issue was getting worse. In qualifying luckily managed to get a few trouble free laps in and bag 4th on the grid before it cut out leaving me stranded on the side of the circuit. Chief mechanic Dave Grey and I ripped into the car on Saturday night and replaced lots of parts in hope to fix the issue for the Sunday races.
Had a decent start in race 1 to grab 3rd off the line which I held until I was given a drive though penalty for "exceeding track limits" which frustratingly dropped me to 21st. I managed to work my way back to 16th by the end of the race. Starting race 2 in 16th I had worked my way upto 4th place before getting knocked off the circuit down to 8th, but grabbed 7th back nearing the end of the last lap. Frustrating weekend it terms of results, but showed promicing pace when everything was working well. Learnt alot on getting the best from the slick tyres and working on a consistant race setup, very much looking forward to Snetterton on the 24th and 25th April now.

Full results: http://www.tsl-timing.com/brscc/2011/111431.pdf
Official race report: http://www.fordracing.eu/documents/0001ReportSilverstone10APR2011.pdf
Points table: http://www.fordracing.eu/documents/FiestaPoints2011.pdf

With less than two weeks until the first meeting, final preperations to the car and team equipment are taking place. This will be my first meeting at Silverstone, however my younger brother Luke, who is racing in the FF1600's at the same meeting has been to Silverstone a couple of times, so I will be taking advice from him for once!

Timetable for Rounds 1 and 2 Silverstone on 9/10th April has now been released:
http://www.brscc.co.uk/2011/timetable/TT_SLV_10APR.pdf

Tickets can be purchased from the Silverstone website:
http://www.silverstone.co.uk/events/British-Racing-Sports-Car-Club-April/?tab=Book-Now

My first outing of 2011 was a shakedown test at Castle Combe on Friday 11/03/11, showing lap record pace first time out was really positive. With 4 weeks until the first round at Silverstone on 9th/10th April, I have time to polish off the last fews bits on the car and prepare myself for the long season ahead. Hope to see you all there. P.S. Don't forget to catch the races on Motors TV!

Thank goodness the longer winter wait is over, the 2011 racing season is finally here! 

In preperation for my first season in the UK Ford Fiesta ST championship I have been busy giving the Ex Ben Roper and Mark Tilbury championship winning car a full nut and bolt rebuild to make sure it is 100% for the season ahead.